Learning to be more Christian from the nutritionist

Don't know whether I should be blabbing about this, but, ok, I'll admit: I'm on a diet.

In fact, I'm paying good money to meet with someone who's whipping my *ss into shape.

Why? Because although I might not be "fat" in the conventional sense of the word, I'm overweight, and because I've been agonizing about the scale reading for years. It was time to do something.

This is what she figured. To maintain 230 lbs, you have to eat more than 3,000 calories of food per day. In fact, my "maintain calorie intake" was 3160. Actually, I've been gaining weight ever since I came to America 7 years ago, about 10 - 15 pounds per year. That means I was eating over 3160 calories per day. Calorie-wise, that would mean, and I'm horrified to admit this, that I was eating the equivalent to about 56 ounces of chicken per day (or 30 bananas).

So, the diet, at least for the first two weeks is simple: reduce calorie intake by 1/3. My dietitian stressed: this is the hardest part, changing your eating patterns.

So, I've gone about two weeks now eating only 2,000 calories per day. I'm usually hungry. It's especially hard at night when my wife and I are just sitting around. But after a very simple dinner of brown rice, two cups of fresh vegetables, and 6 ounces of lean meat, I am satisfied. The dietitian has taught me that I can survive on much much less food than I previously realized. If I wanted, I could save a fortune eating only what's on my diet. In fact, eating out and staying under my calorie cap is virtually impossible.

And I believe this has helped me to be a better Christian in this sense. By eating only what I need, I feel that I am being a better steward of the world's resources. The body doesn't need 3000 calories. Why hog all that food? And get fat? Especially while people are hungry in other places of my town.